It is known in the agricultural industry to utilize plastic sheeting or film—referred to as “plastic mulch”- to utilize for a variety of applications, including fumigation and for covering plant and soil. Plastic mulch is commonly used in growing strawberries and vegetables. The plastic mulch insulates the plants, assisting in maintaining a consistent temperature and humidity of the soil, preventing evaporation of moisture from the soil, and limiting weed growth and erosion. The plastic mulch remains in place for the duration of the cultivation of the plant.
When utilized as a covering, a plastic film having a thickness ranging from 0.6 to 2.0 mils placed over the ground or plants, with a typical thickness of 1.1 to 1.5 mils. Holes may be placed in the film for the plants to grow through. The edges of the plastic mulch are typically tucked under the edges of the bed to maintain the sheeting in place, forming a skirt on either side of the bed.
Upon completion of the growing season and harvesting of the crop, the plastic mulch must be recovered from the field to allow the preparation of the soil for a new crop. Typically, the recovery of the plastic mulch first requires that any vegetation which has grown over the top of the sheeting be removed. One process of vegetation removal is mowing the vegetation, typically with some type of rotary mower. In addition, the skirt portion of the plastic mulch must be free to allow the sheeting to be removed. The process can be further complicated by soil and debris which fall to the center of the plastic mulch during the process of mowing or releasing the skirt, making the material even more difficult to pick up. Because of this issue, some growers will slice the plastic mulch down the center prior to retrieval to allow the dirt and debris to fall through the plastic as it is picked up. The removal of the plastic mulch can be further complicated by the presence of drip irrigation tubing below the plastic mulch, which is typically removed at the same time the plastic mulch is removed.
Because of the intense manpower required to manually remove the plastic mulch, a variety of devices have been developed over the years to facilitate the process. For example, some devices utilize coulter wheels to cut into the ground and any plant material and blades mounted rearward of the coulter wheels, where the blades cut into the ground and underneath the plastic mulch. As the plastic mulch is unearthed, it is left lying loosely upon the planting bed for subsequent collection. With some devices, the unearthed plastic mulch is rolled onto rotating rollers as it is gathered. However, operation of these devices typically requires that vegetation growing above the plastic mulch be first removed before use of the device. These devices also typically do not have the capacity to remove irrigation tubing at the same time. These devices typically result in bundles or rolls of plastic mulch which must thereafter be disposed. It would be desirable to have a machine which is capable in a single pass of performing all aspects required to recover plastic mulch and irrigation tubing, including even the shredding and bagging of the recovered material.